'Gis Day' Celebrates Maps With Layers Of Information

Even if you're a geography nut, you probably don't know that today is GIS Day.

Wait. Don't go. Because this is pretty interesting stuff.

Researchers used GIS to show the spread of SARS in Hong Kong and China and to map debris from the space shuttle Columbia.

During an emergency, it helps police officers and firefighters find your home.

An entrepreneur can use it to figure out how many customers he might have if he builds a store near your neighborhood.

If you've ever used Mapquest for directions, you've used GIS, which stands for "geographic information system."

And some of the folks who use it hope GIS Day will prompt some of the rest of us to learn a little more about it.

"Geography affects people in every single day of their lives," said Lyle Hornbaker, information services coordinator for Isle of Wight County, which has used GIS data to help extend cable TV service to more people.

And like many other localities, Isle of Wight is working on a map to show buildings that were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Isabel.

GIS is a way to let people see databases by putting them on a map. That map can include points, such as the location of schools or fire hydrants. It can show lines, such as roads and water pipes. And it can draw shapes like buildings and pieces of property.

GIS can put several databases -- or layers of information -- onto a map that can help people answer questions: How far do I live from the fire station? How far is my child's school? How does the value of my property compare with the rest of my neighborhood?

"All these individual layers, you just throw them on top of each other, turn them colors, and people go: 'Wow.' " said Allan Lambert, Hampton's GIS manager. Hampton police use GIS for crime analysis. The city uses GIS to help prospective businesses find property that is big enough and has the right zoning for a factory or office building.

Hampton has partnered with York and James City counties to put all their property information on the localities' Web sites. Through those sites, people can use the Internet to get detailed information on any piece of property in those areas. The city's Web site gets about 10,000 hits a month, Lambert said, and that traffic doubled during the three days before Isabel -- when people were trying to find out whether their homes would be affected by storm surge.

Newport News has more than 100 different layers of information that can be put onto a map, such as the locations of cell phone towers, sewer lines and school board districts.

"To me, it's not like real work," said Mark Hargrave, the city's GIS supervisor. "You get to do things you couldn't imagine doing with any other program. You get to make maps, and that's fun."

York County used GIS data to draw a map showing storm surge areas, which it uses for mosquito control. Maps are used to show where mosquitoes breed, and for aerial spraying done this spring, GIS maps told the plane's computer to turn the sprayers off when the plane was over water, beehives and other areas that can't be sprayed.

"If you like maps and you like databases, this is the field," said Korine Leonard, York's GIS manager. "This is the cool stuff right here."

Christopher Schnaars can be reached at 247-4768 or by e-mail at cschnaars@dailypress.com